Schengen Visa Rejections In 2023 Cost Indians Rs 109 Crore
Reasons given for rejection ranged from insufficient verification of trip finances, incomplete documents, and unclear travel motives to a history of poor employment and visa violations.
Indians lost an estimated Rs 109 crore (€12.1 million) in 2023 in the form of visa fees after their Schengen visa applications got rejected.
A report in Conde Naste Traveller stated Indians were also among the top five nationalities with the highest number of rejected Schengen visa applications last year.
A Schengen visa allows an Indian traveller to visit 29 European countries, including Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland and Sweden, along with Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.
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According to Schengen News, Indians filed 966,687 visa applications, of which 151,752 were rejected. Reasons given for rejection ranged from insufficient verification of trip finances, incomplete documents, and unclear travel motives to history of poor employment and visa violations.
How much does one shell out for a Schengen Visa
The visa application fee for an Indian citizen above 12 years of age with an ordinary passport was Rs 7,200 before June 11. This has now been hiked to Rs 8,000.
At the fee of Rs 7,200, India invested approximately Rs 696 crores in visa applications last year. With 1,51,752 applications rejected, Rs 109 crore out of this was lost to trips that never happened, Conde Nast Traveller reported. The application fee for a Schengen visa is non-refundable.
What do experts say?
A report in FirstPost quoted Marta Foresti, founder of Lago Collective, an organisation that works on policy-making issues, as telling the EU Observer that the cost of rejected visas were "reverse remittances, money flowing from poor to rich countries."
"We never hear about these costs when discussing aid or migration, it is time to change that,” she added.
Schengen Visa Facts for Indian Residents
Applicants from India are responsible for 9.39% of all Schengen visa requests submitted globally.
Indian residents filed 966,687 visa applications in 2023 (an increase of 43.87% compared to 2022).
India is the 3rd country with the most Schengen visa applications filed in 2023.
Lithuania received the least visa applications from India with only 697.
Switzerland was the top destination for Indian residents with 189,646 visa applications.
